Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 21

Above left and right:
The Bar-B-Q Ranch
has been serving
diners on U.S. 11 in
Harrisonburg for
decades.
Below: The farmer’s
lunch at Simplicity is
a delight.

the honey from Cedar Mountain, the peach preserves homemade
(Tracie says she was afraid she’s put in too much nutmeg but I like it).
From Brevard, it’s a beautiful, beautiful morning drive to Valle
Crucis, about two hours away. I’m headed for the Mast Farm Inn,
a favorite of Blue Ridge Country readers, and a place I’ve been wanting to get back to for years. They serve a farmer’s lunch, and that’s
what I’m after.
Another young chef – Andrew Long – serves the farmer’s lunch,
which is a little bit like an Appalachian antipasto. There’s salami,
delicate rolled-up country ham from Goodnight Brothers in Boone,
gouda from Ashe County, camembert from Spinning Spider
Creamery in Marshall. The cold creamed Swiss chard soup and the
house-pickled cucumbers (that still taste deliciously cucumber-y
as well as pickle-y) are from the garden I just walked past.
I regret that I can’t stay for dinner. Long has come to Mast Farm
Inn (Simplicity, specifically, is the name of the inn’s restaurant),
most recently from Story Street Grill in Blowing Rock. He’s originally from Louisiana; his wife, Megan, from Massachusetts. He
also teaches cooking classes at the inn.

Western North Carolina does local and does local well, and those
trends are growing stronger throughout the region.
Harrisonburg and Roanoke, Virginia
Lunch, Dinner
It also takes all of my strength not to just head for Charlottesville,
my favorite eating city in Virginia (Tastings, Duners, the C&O,
Café Europa, Mudhouse, Revolutionary Soup, Hotcakes). I do give
in to some personal bias, though, focusing on the great food things
happening in my hometown and my adopted hometown –
Harrisonburg and Roanoke.
Harrisonburg’s downtown is getting busier and busier every time
I visit, nudged along by the growing James Madison University
community and the alumni/ae who stay. Some institutions have
stayed put over the years – the L&S, an honest-to-goodness diner
my neighbors used to own, famous for its sausage gravy; Jess’ Quick
Lunch, a decades-old lunch counter with great hot dogs and homemade milk shakes (there’s also a second location on 33, but the
downtown one is the original); Kline’s Dairy Bar (two locations in
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 | 21



Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

Cover
Table of Contents
Letters/Worth a Click
From the Editor
Digital Help Guide
From the Farm
The Hike
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Festivals & Events
Explore West Virginia Covered Bridges
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Cave in to Adventure
Fall Travel to Restaurants, Diners and Dives
Photoessay: Late Fall Comes to the Mountains
What's New in these Hills?
Life and Death in Butterfield Branch
Mountain-Classic Recipes
Cabin in the Woods: A North Georgia Getaway
Mountain Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Table of Contents
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Letters/Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - From the Editor
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Digital Help Guide
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - From the Farm
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Explore West Virginia Covered Bridges
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Cave in to Adventure
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE2
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE3
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE4
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE5
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE6
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Fall Travel to Restaurants, Diners and Dives
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 21
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Photoessay: Late Fall Comes to the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - What's New in these Hills?
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 34
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Life and Death in Butterfield Branch
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 38
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain-Classic Recipes
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain Garden
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cabin in the Woods: A North Georgia Getaway
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover4
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